Unlike a year ago, when Tim Lincecum appeared at FanFest weekend with a new haircut and hipster eyewear, he didn't unveil a startling look Friday.

He had sat on his faux glasses and bent them, making them unwearable. He was wearing a knit beanie and a gray shawl sweater over a plaid flannel shirt. Jeans. Sneakers.

"There's no look," he said. "It's just me."

And "just Lincecum" is OK with the Giants. They wanted him back, badly, and signed him in October to a two-year, $35 million contract. Some people scoffed at the deal as a sentimental signing. But the Giants believe that their former ace and fan favorite is in the process of remaking himself into a different but effective starter. They get Lincecum and he gets them.

Lincecum described himself as "ecstatic" to be back at the only baseball home he's ever known.

"Familiarity is the biggest thing for me," he said. "The last couple of years, I was biting my knuckles wondering what was going to happen. Would teams want me after this? But the Giants showing that they did want me gives me confidence going into this year."

That's as close as Lincecum came to conceding that the contract situation weighed heavily on his mind. His struggles on the mound coincided with his impending free agency and you could see that he was swimming in self-doubt.

"It was a question mark in my head, whether or not I'm a commodity that someone would want, let alone the team that's had me for seven years," he said. "I'm being honest with you when I say that those questions creep up in my mind. I get in my own head a lot."

Pitching is a mental game and Lincecum has been working hard to master that side of it. Though he concedes that in the past he's been cocky, even arrogant, about his ability to get hitters out, he has learned that he must evolve. Making that mental adjustment, accepting his new parameters, has been the hardest part.

"But I feel like I'm making that evolution," he said

Lincecum, believe it or not, will turn 30 this season. It will be his eighth year with the Giants. He's still Timmy, still young looking, like everyone's favorite kid brother. Even he finds it hard to believe he's going to hit that milestone of adulthood.

"Yeah, it is," he said. "I still struggle to have a mustache."

He looked with envy on Brandon Belt's new close-cropped beard.

"I'm so jealous," Lincecum said. "When people are, like, 'Fear the Beard,' I think. 'What the hell am I going to bring to this?' "

Lincecum is maturing on and off the field. Last season, mostly thanks to Chad Gaudin's influence, he finally learned how to use the computer analytics that have long been available to him. He said it gave him more confidence going into each start. He plans to continue his new routine, even though Gaudin is now in Philadelphia.

Lincecum also is excited to tap into the knowledge base of new teammate Tim Hudson (who didn't make Friday's event due to terrible weather in the South). Lincecum met Hudson at the All-Star Game in 2010.

"We were both sitting out in the bullpen not pitching," Lincecum said. "He's a smaller guy who's probably been asked the same questions I have throughout my career, but he keeps pushing back."

Lincecum has a question for Hudson.

"How do you throw a slider?" he said.

Off the field, Lincecum continued working with the trainers he saw last offseason, focusing on improving strength and flexibility. He took his first trip to Europe, visiting Amsterdam and London with friends and their significant others. He sold his downtown Seattle condo and bought a house in the Madison Valley neighborhood, south of the University of Washington, with a yard that's better for his two dogs than a high-rise patio.

He left the contract negotiations to his agent, but was happy to make a relatively quick decision.

"It was like trying to pick a college," he said. "I always knew I wanted to stay close to home, but you never want to knock down an option. It's hard to turn it down when they (the Giants) seemed so adamant about wanting me."

Lincecum declined to divulge what other teams showed interest.

"These guys wanted me in a more special way," he said.

Lincecum said his familiarity with his teammates, coaches and fans was a big part of his desire to return.

"Fans are the reason we get so excited for games," Lincecum said. "This fan base, the people who have accepted me after stuff I've done, it's hard to go unnoticed."

Perhaps sensitive of the dual loyalties of many Giants fans, Lincecum didn't crow too much about his beloved Seattle Seahawks. He was once the 12th Man, raising the No. 12 banner at CenturyLink Field in 2010. He didn't attend any games this football season, opting to stay warm and dry in his own home. That will be his plan for Super Bowl Sunday; he'll head back north after FanFest.

His one fashion concession on Friday was a chunky wristwatch in Seahawks "Action Green." When it was noted that his watch appeared to be a Seahawks color, Lincecum pulled down the cuff of his flannel shirt to conceal it.